Though the announcement of TIME magazine's 'Person of the Year' designation isn't until next month, it was reported on Monday that the leading contender—at least among the magazine's readership—is Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the Democratic presidential candidate calling for a 'political revolution' with his grassroots-driven campaign against establishment candidate Hillary Clinton.

The self-described democratic socialist currently leads Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist, with 11% in the TIME reader poll compared with her 5%. Sanders also leads Pope Francis and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama, and is far ahead of entertainers like Adele (2%) and Jennifer Lawrence (1.7%). In voter polls against Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, Sanders is consistently losing by about 20 percentage points in national polls. In the Person of the Year poll, Hillary Clinton has earned 1.3 % of the vote, trailing the likes of Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande as well as Nicki Minaj and Amy Schumer.

Explaining the phenomenon of his surging popularity, TIME said Sanders "has become a hero on the Democratic left among progressives disillusioned by growing income inequality and money in politics." Though still trailing Clinton, Sanders has been attracting record-sized crowds nationwide and is polling well in the key early states of both Iowa and New Hampshire as he "casts a long shadow over the Democratic primary with his ability to introduce a progressive wish-list including breaking up the big banks, instituting public financing of elections, socialistic single-payer healthcare system and tuition free college at public institutions."

While only the editors of the magazine ultimately choose who they think deserves the annual note of prestige, TIME invites readers to cast their opinion on which person they think "most influenced the news this year for better or worse" by voting online.

Voting on the reader’s choice poll ends at midnight on December 6 and the magazine will announce the winner on December 9.

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Further

Lord, what would John Lennon have made of the Trump monster? Marking Thursday's 36th anniversary of Lennon's murder, Yoko Ono posted a plea for gun control, calling his death "a hollowing experience" and pleading, "Together, let's bring back America, the green land of Peace." With so many seeking solace in these ugly times, mourns one fan, "Oh John, you really should be here." Lennon conceded then, and likely would now, "Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."